Harbor seal visits polluted Gowanus Canal
Gowanus residents and members of the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club saw and photographed a harbor seal near Whole Foods in the Gowanus Canal on Sunday.
It was sunbathing on top of equipment that is being used to dredge the canal’s Fourth Street Turning Basin, according to Pardon Me for Asking. Needless to say, a seal is a rarity in the canal, which is so polluted it has been declared a federal Superfund site. After being alerted of its presence, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is overseeing the cleanup of the canal, reached out to Riverhead Foundation for Marine Life. The foundation told EPA that if the animal wasn’t in obvious distress, it should be left along, Pardon Me for Asking reported. Longtime community residents will remember Sludgie the Whale, which made its way into the canal in 2007.
